As is well known in the sport of golf, tees formed from wood typically break and/or become lost when struck by the head of a golf club, thereby requiring a golfer to bring a large quantity of wooden tees to the golf course or driving range. In an attempt to overcome the breakage problem commonly associated with wooden tees, a wide variety of plastic tees have been produced. Unfortunately, although plastic tees are nearly indestructible, they are typically ejected from the ground and catapulted a large distance through the air when struck by the head of a golf club, due to the inherent material characteristics of most plastics. As such, the robustness of plastic tees is negatively balanced by an increased probability of tee loss.
In order to prevent the above-described, annoying loss of wooden and plastic golf tees, several golf tee anchoring systems have been developed, each comprising a ball support tee and an anchoring element for tethering the ball support tee to the ground. Unfortunately, currently available golf tee anchoring systems suffer from a wide variety of disadvantages as detailed hereinbelow.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,655,751 to Cody discloses a golf tee anchoring system comprising first and second conventional wooden tees which are coupled together by a string. A pair of detachable, metal, annular washers, each including an inwardly projecting tip which is adapted to penetrate into the wooden shank of a tee, and a notch for receiving an end portion of the coupling string, are utilized to connect together the first and second tees. However, by forming the tees from wood, and by weakening the wooden shank of the ball supporting tee by inserting the inwardly projecting tip of a washer therein, the tee anchoring system disclosed by Cody is highly susceptible to tee breakage.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,552,991 to Jones discloses a golf tee anchoring system which prevents tee loss while simultaneously avoiding the inherent breakage problem of wooden tees. Specifically, Jones' golf tee anchoring system utilizes a metal anchoring pin to secure a tee, having a body formed either entirely from plastic, or having a body comprising a plastic head mounted on a metal shank, into the ground. Unfortunately, when utilizing a tee having a plastic shank, the tee will typically "pop" out of the ground if it is struck by the head of a golf club, due to the resiliency of most plastic materials. Consequently, when on a driving range, a golfer must repeatedly reinsert the tee into the ground to tee off a new golf ball. Further, if a metal shank is utilized, the force of the golf club may bend the tee, rendering it substantially unusable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,940 to Sprague illustrates a golf tee holder which is tethered to a conventional green repair tool. The golf tee holder comprises a generally cylindrical, resilient, hollow body having an upper body opening through which a golf tee is inserted. When fully inserted into the golf tee holder, the concave head of the tee is disposed slightly below the upper rim of the cylindrical, hollow body of the holder, with the lower shank of the tee protruding outward from the bottom of the hollow body. As such, the upper section of a golf tee is fully enclosed within a protective shell, thereby reducing the probability of tee breakage. Unfortunately, the decreased degree of tee breakage afforded by the Sprague's golf tee holder is offset by a greatly increased chance of the tee being lifted out of the ground when struck by a club. Consequently, the golf tee holder would not be suitable for use on a driving range where a plurality of golf balls are typically driven in rapid succession
Ward, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,170, discloses a two piece golf tee having an upper sleeve portion for receiving a golf ball thereon, and a lower spike portion which is designed to remain in the ground when struck by a golf club. The two piece golf tee is assembled by snapping the upper sleeve portion over and around a flange which is integrally formed on the top of the lower spike portion. To prevent the detachment of the upper sleeve and the lower spike portions of the two piece golf tee, a flexible retainer shaft extends from the top of the lower spike portion and is slidably received within the upper sleeve portion of the tee. When the tee is struck by a golf club, the upper sleeve portion separates from the lower spike portion and slides upward along the flexible retainer shaft. In theory, the upper sleeve portion is designed to snap back over the flanged top of the lower spike portion, thereby assuming its proper orientation, after being struck by a golf club. However, in actual use, the upper sleeve portion commonly does not snap back to its original seated configuration, thereby requiring a user to reseat the upper sleeve portion on the lower spike portion prior to driving another golf ball.